A Gerhard Gem for Lent 3-Oculi

"Just as Sampson, who encountered a roaring, threatening lion as he was going up to Timnah, had to first overcome it before he could get his bride, so also it happened to the Lord Christ, as He came to earth to us sinners and enemies of God (Rom. 5:8, 10) in order to gather a spiritual Bride and Church from the human race. He also had to first conquer the hellish lion, the devil (1 Pet. 5:8), because all mankind had fallen under his claws through sin" (Johann Gerhard, Postilla, p. 241).